Despite increased scrutiny of voting procedures following the 2000 election - and a federal reform law aimed at shoring up the patchwork system - virtually nothing prevents transient voters from casting ballots in multiple states, testing a system that relies more on the honesty of individual voters than on any checks and balances.
As many as 400 people voted in Ohio and Florida in the same election over the past four years, records show. In the 2000 presidential election, about 100 Ohio voters also cast ballots in Florida - where the presidential race was decided by just 537 votes.
And though some states exchange voting records as residents move, it is not legally required, state officials say.
This opens a gaping hole in the election system, allowing thousands of voters to alternate between states, voting in Ohio in one election and in Florida the next - a practice frowned on by election officials in both states.
Florida's secretary of state, Glenda Hood, asked the U.S. Justice Department to launch an investigation of double-voting after other newspapers reported similar problems between Florida and other states.
But there is little that election officials can do to stop double-voting from occurring this week, if it hasn't happened already. For example:
More than 300 voters from Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Franklin counties received Ohio absentee ballots for Tuesday's election, though they are also eligible to vote in Florida. Many of these voters requested their Ohio ballots within days or weeks of registering to vote in Florida.
At least a handful of voters from the three counties requested absentee ballots from both states - potentially allowing them to vote twice without even going to a polling place.
Some voters registered in both states within the same month.
Besides double-voters, records also show that thousands of voters have toggled from Ohio to Florida and back again since 2000. For example, 1,400 voters cast ballots in Ohio in 2000 and 2002 after registering in Florida.
